Electrical devices, such as printed circuit boards, are often assessed by test and measurement equipment to provide information about the operation of the devices. This may be done, for example, during development, production, or simply when the devices are not working properly after manufacture. The test and measurement equipment may include meters, logic analyzers, and scopes such as oscilloscopes, as examples. The connection between the device under test (DUT) and the test and measurement equipment may be by way of a probe.
There are many ways to connect a test and measurement probe to a contact point on a device under test. One of the most popular conventional methods is to solder a probe tip, via generally short wires, directly to the metal contact on the DUT. This has been the standard for many years.
But soldering a probe tip onto a DUT can be challenging. For example, soldering requires a hot, and often large, solder iron tip. The high temperature required to melt the solder, generally over 700 degrees Fahrenheit (over 370 degrees Celsius) for lead-free solder, also has a tendency to burn or scorch portions of either the probe tip or the DUT during the soldering process. This temperature problem is exacerbated because the size of the solder iron tip is often larger than the desired test point on the DUT, such as a blind via, making it very difficult to apply the high heat from the soldering iron only to the desired test point. While a wire may be soldered between the probe tip and the DUT, the wire should be as short as possible for optimal electrical performance. But, when using conventional soldering techniques, the shorter the wire, the more difficult the solder attachment process is to perform. Furthermore, removal of a solder-in probe tip or rework of the solder joint is difficult. And these problems are magnified by the ever-shrinking geometries of the DUTs, including printed circuit boards that are now significantly smaller than a penny.
Embodiments of the disclosed systems and methods address these and other issues in the prior art.